Illinois corruption 8/9/12: Alderman compares his job to that of a priest

Since 1973, thirty-one members of the Chicago City Council have been sentenced to prison. But in a rant where he complains about his $114,000-a-year job--to students--Ald, Walter Burnett of the 27th Ward compared his job to that of a priest.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

"I went to a block party Saturday [with] every next person I talked to asking me for something, complaining about something. You have to have a thick skull to deal with that," Burnett said, apparently intending to say skin—not skull.

"Sometimes, they even accuse you of not doing something when they don’t know what you did. Dealing with the public, you can't just respond like you normally would [by saying], 'Who you talking to? You lying.' You can't say all of that. You have to be like, 'Okay, ma'am. We'll look into it,' or, 'That's not true. But, let me show you what I did do. Give me another opportunity to fix it for you.'"

Burnett, chairman of the City Council's Special Events Committee, cautioned students who might be considering a run for elected office that they need "a lot of tolerance and a lot of patience" to succeed.

"Sometimes, it’s hard. People may be mad because they've been trying to get something done and they couldn't do it and they’ve been calling the wrong places and when they get you on the phone, they're taking it all out on you. You don't even know what they’re talking about and they're just beating you up," Burnett said.

First of all, instead of complaining about his job, Burnett should be using his clout to make Chicago's unresponsive bureaucracy, well, responsive.

Secondly, if Burnett doesn't like his job, he can quit.

There is some good news: At least he hasn't been accused of a crime.

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